In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison Character Descriptions

Jack Henry Abbott - He has read widely, especially philosophy, and has settled on Communism as the best and ideal political system for the world. He considers himself a revolutionary and looks forward to a world dominated by Communism.

Pigs - They are members of a fraternity which protects its own.

Norman Mailer - He is the man Jack Abbott is writing to in his series of letters.

Uncle Ho - This character's poem involves welcoming the winter (despair, sadness, punishment) for only with winter can there be a spring. It celebrates damage done to the body and mind, for this damage has strengthened body and mind.

William James - He wrote that we do not shed tears because we are sad; we are sad because we shed tears.

Striker - He stabbed and killed a prison guard after the guard tried to break up his poker...